United States Young recruits are behind growth in US unions, Uni Global says

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YOUNG workers are rejecting the “snake-oil” of Donald Trump to drive a growth in US trade unions, international union federation Uni Global announced today.

Official figures released this month show that union membership grew by 262,000 in 2017, with 76 per cent of new members being under 35.

The data, unpicked by the Economic Policy Institute last week, shows that big gains were made in the historically less organised section of the population — despite the rise, only 7.7 per cent of workers aged 16–34 were members of a union, compared with 12.6 per cent of over-35s.

“Unions in the United States are enduring an attack by the Trump administration and anti-worker businesses, but this new data shows that instead of backing down, unions are making it happen for workers — particularly young workers,” said UNI general secretary Philip Jennings.

“Instead of being enticed by the siren song of populism and the snake-oil of Trump, [young workers] are standing together and taking control of their destiny by organising.”